Tomorrow is the 150th anniversary of abolitionist John Brown’s 1859 raid on the West Virginian town of Harpers Ferry. Although the two day raid didn’t result in a slave revolt as Brown had hoped, it did act as a catalyst in moving up the Civil War. Journalist Fergus Bordewich wrote about John Brown in the article “Day of Reckoning” for the October issue of Smithsonian Magazine.

Click here to read Fergus Bordewich’s article “Day of Reckoning.” And, as Bob mentioned in the interview, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia is now part of the National Park Service. Learn more about what they have planned for the Sesquicentennial of John Brown’s raid, and how you can visit, by going to their website.

Then, historian Carol Berkin tells the story of three wives of notable Civil War figures whose marriages gave them unique perspectives into “The War Between the States.” History is usually about the people in the forefront, but in her book Civil War Wives, Berkin focuses on the lives of Julia Grant, Varina Howell Davis, and Angelina Grimke Weld, who experienced a very different war from their husbands.